The rate of power consumption in modern electronic devices is increasingly important. In particular, portable electronic devices often rely upon battery power, which is limited. The limited battery power limits, for example, the number of hours for which a portable electronic device can operate. Accordingly, reducing the rate of power consumption in portable electronic devices can extend the operating time of a device and/or allow increased device functionality without decreasing the operating time. Illumination of displays within electronic devices typically consumes relatively large quantities of power, which can greatly decrease the device operating time when display illumination is used.
An appreciation of the present invention and its improvements can be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings that are briefly summarized below, to the following detailed description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, and to the appended claims.